Walking doll



D. ZAIDEN.

WALKING DOLL APPLICATION FILED D5014, 1920. I Patented July 18, 1922.

a; B lf Q Jwrz'd Zadem,

DAVID ZAIDEN, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

WALKING DOLL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1922.

Application filed December 14, 1920. Serial No. 430,675.

' use the same, reference being had to the ac companying referencemarked thereon, part of this specification.

The present invention relates, generally, to toys, such as dolls, toyanimals and the like; and the invention has reference, moreparticularly, to an improved means for connecting the legs of such toysto the body thereof whereby the toymay be so manipdrawings, and tocharacters of which form a 'ulated as to cause the legs to simulate themotions of walking.

lhe invention has for its principal object to provide a, novel simpleand very cheap means for securing the legs to the body of a toy, suchasa doll, so that the legs may be caused to simulate the motions ofwalking.

The invention has for a further object to provide means for securing thelegs to the body of the toy so that not only may walking motions becaused, but also so that the legs may be positioned at right angles tothe body of the toy, whereby the latter may be placed in a sittingposture without interfering or disarranging the devices by means ofwhich said walking motions are attained.

Other objects of the present invention, not at this time moreparticularly enumerated, will he clearly understood from the foll.owingdetailed description of the same.

With the various objects of the invention in view, the same consists,primarily, in the novel construction of toy hereinafter set forth; and,furthermore, the invention consists in the novel arrangements andcombinations of the various devices and parts, as well as in the detailsof the construction thereof, all of which will be hereinafter more fullydescribed and claimed.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a front view of a doll provided with the novel legconnections made accord ing to and embodying the principles of thepresent invention. i

Figure 2 is a back view of portions of the body and leg members of thedoll, illustrating the novel means for securing the leg members to thebody so as to permit the former to simulate walking movements.

Figure 3 is a detailfhorizontal section, taken on line 3-3 in saidFigure 1.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the lower body and leg members of mynovel doll, illustrating the manner in which the leg connections operatewhen said leg members are caused to simulate walking movements.

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the lower body and legmembers of mynovel doll, with the said leg members positioned relative to the body soas to permit. of the doll being placed in a sitting posture.

Similar characters of reference are employed in all of the abovedescribed views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to said drawings, the reference character 1 indicates adoll,- and 2 indicates the main trunk or body core there-- of, whichpreferably comprises a substantially rectangular block of wood ofsuitable width and thickness, and provided at its lower end-with acentrally disposed downwardly projecting tongue or extension 3 ofreduced width. Secured upon the upper end of saidtrunk or body core 2,so as to extend transversely across the same an'dbeyond each side ofsaid core 2, is a shoulder bracket d, preferably made of metal, andhaving its free ends 5 turned downwardly so as to be positioned parallelto and outwardlyolfset from the sides of the core 2. Pivotally connectedwiththe lower extremities-of said free ends are fore-arm portions 6.Arranged about the said shoulder bracket 4; and its ends 5, between eachfore-arm portion 6 and the core 2, are coil springs 7. Said springs 7not only serve to fill out the contour of the arm and shoulder portions,but also serve to stabilize the position of the fore-arm portions ineither their downwardly hanging or upwardly turned horizontal positions,by reason of the pressure exerted upon said parts by the compression ofthe springs, all of which will be clearly understood from an inspectionofjFigure 1 of the drawings. The reference character 8 indicates thesecured to the upper end of the core 2.

Thereference characters 9 and 10 indicate the respective leg portions ofthe doll. Said leg portions 9 and 10 are pivotally connect doll head,which is suitably ed to the core 2, so as to be respectively positionedat opposite sides of said tongue or extension 3. The means for sopivoting said leg portions comprises a transverse pivot pin 11 which issupported by passing the same through said tongue or extension 3, sothat the respective ends of said pivot pin project outwardly from thesides of said tongue or extension 3. The upper ends of said legportions, are respectively engaged on the oppositely projecting ends ofsa d pivot pin. Connected with the sides of said core 2 are retainingmembers 12, preferably made of flat metal strips, the lower free ends 13of which respectively extend over the respective free ends of said pivotpin 11 as the same project from the outer sides of the leg-portions,thus serving not alone to retain the latter against accidentaldisplace:- ment from the pivot pin ends, but also re taining said pivotpinitself from displacement a ,i a r Secured at their upper ends uponthe back of said core 2, adjacent to each side of the latter and invertical alinement with said respective leg portions are flat or' leafsprings li,the tree ends 15 ofwhich proect downwardly from saidcoreQ soas to .l

respectivelyengage the rear sides o t said leg portions at pointsoppositeor slightly below the point of pivotal swing of the latter.

The rear sides of said provided with free ends 15 of said springs llride. Said seats 16 terminate attheir lower ends in shoulders 1-6, whichengage the ends of said springs to limit the rearward movement of saidleg portions.

Secured to said core 2 are front and baclx: body shells l7 andlS, thesame being n iade of any suitable material, and being shaped to fill outthe contour of the trunk or body of the doll. Said shells l7 and 18 arecut away at their lower sides, as at 19, to provide clearance spacesaccommodating the movements of the upper ends of said leg portions. 1

The manner of manipulating the doll to, cause the respectiveleg-portions 9 and l t) tosimulate successive stepping or walkingmovements, is is ilollowsc The child in playing with the doll, placesthe same on the floor or other surface, and holds the same by graspingone of the forearm portions 6, which has been turned to assumehorizontal position, and which is stabilized in such position by the legportions are of its compression spring 7, its above more tioned. lzl henthus holding the doll, by slightly tipping the same sideways and inwardly, the leg 9 is: slightly raised to clear foot fromthe door, andthe. weight of the dolllis then supported uponthe. leg 10. By thenmoving the; doll. bodily forward,

flat seats 16 upon which said swing i n pressure the leg 10 will becaused to swing rearwardly on its pivotal connection against the tensionof the leaf spring 1 L engaged therewith, thereby causing the leg 10 toincline rearwardly, while the leaf spring 14 engaging the leg 9 holdsthe same against rearward movement, so that by the movement of the bodyof the doll said leg 9 is caused to incline forwardly, all as shown inFigure l of the drawings. By then tipping the doll sideways andoutwardly, the leg 9 is brought down with its toot portion engaging thefloor, and at the same tllllfilllfi leg 10 is slightly raised to tion toclear the floor, whereupon the: ad ditional tension stored in the spring1 engaging theleg 10, which was produced by the flexing of the springwhen the leg 10 swings rearwardly, will thereupon cause a forwardswinging movement of thleg 10 to return the same to normal initialposition. Forward movement 01 the body of the doll will now cause theleg to swing rearwardly against the tension of the leafspring engagingthe same, while the leg is held so as to move into advanced positionready for the next stepping engagement with the It will thus be apparentthat SUCCGS-- floor. sive stepping movements may he thus caused at will,so that as the child, by the simple manipulations above explained, thebody of the doll, the legs-of the latter will be; caused to simulatewalking move ments for pivoting the legs 9 and 10 together with theco-operative action of the flat lead, springs A in connection therewith,affords a very simple arra-i'igement .i'zor the purpose intended, andonly effective, and very cheap to manufacture, but which is ranged orout of order. Another advantage for attaehin g k ments oi. the doll forwalking, lies in the fact that the attachments are so constructed andrelated that, if desired, the legs 9 and 10 may be raised to forwardlyextend ing horizontal position the dollbody, so that the doll may beeasily placed in a sitting posture. readily yield to such movement Offthe legs, and furthermore, the upper extremities of the legs presentfiat end surfaces 20, which receive the pres sure of the springs 14 whenthe legs are so *aised, the said legs are thereby stabilized or held insuch raised position relative tothe body, and the doll is therebymaintained easily against falling or collapsing from the sittingposture, all. of-whieh is clearly illustrated in Figuree of the drawlugs.

cause its foot por-- advances It will be apparent that the means anarrangement which is not also, by reason of its simplicity little likelyto become d1sarof my novel means and controllmg the move at right anglesto- The springs i l I aware that some changes may beby reason of thefact that made in the arrangements and combinations of thevariousdevices and parts, as well as in the details of the construction of thesame, without departing from the scope of my present invention as setforth in the foregoing specification, and as defined in the appendedclaims. Hence, I do not limit my invention to the exact arrangements andcombinations of the various de vices and parts as describedin saidspecification, nor do I confine myself to the exact details of theconstruction ofsaid parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I claim 1. In a toy of the kind described, a body portion, portionspivotally connected with said body portion, and flat leaf springsattached to said body portion, the free ends of said springsrespectively engaging the rear sides of said respective leg portions tohold the latter in normal longitudinal alinement with said body portionyet yieldable to rearward swinging movement.

2. In a toy of the kind described, a body,

portion having a transverse shoulder bracket fixed to its upper end,saidshoulder bracket having outwardly off-set downwardly extending freeends, fore-arm portions pivotally connected with the free ends of saidshoulder bracket, compression springs arranged about said bracket endsbetween said body portion and said foream portions, said compressionsprings being adapted to stabilize the fore arm portions in eitherlowered vertical or raised horizontal positions, leg portions pivotallyconnected with the lower end of said body portion, and flat leaf springsattached to said body portion, the free ends of said springsrespectively engaging the rear sides of said respective leg portions tohold the latter in normal longitudinal alinement with said body portionyet yieldable to rearward swinging movement.

3. In a toy of the kind described, a body portion having a core providedat its lower end with a central. extension of reduced width, leg membershaving their upper ends pivotally connected with said extensionrespectively at opposite sides oi the latter, flat leai springs securedto the back of said core in vertical alinement with said respective legportions, the free ends of said springs being adapted to engage the rearsides of said leg portions to hold the latter in normal longitudinalalinement with said core yet yieldable to rearward swinging movement.

l. In a toy of the kind described, a body portion having a core providedat its lower end with a central extension of reduced width, leg members,means for pivotally connecting said leg members respectively at oppositesides of said extension, fiat leafsprings secured to the back of saidcore in vertical alinement withsaid respective leg portions, saidleg-portions having flat seats at the rear sides of their upper endportions engageable by the free ends of said leaf-springs, and saidleg-portions having shoulders disposed at the lower ends oi said seatsadapted to be engaged by the extremities of said leaf-springs to limitthe rearward swinging inovementof said leg ortions, said leaf-springsnormally hol ing said leg-portions in longitudinal alinement with saidcore yet yieldable to rearward swinging movement.

5. In a toy of the kind described, a body portion having a core providedat its lower end with a central extension of reduced width, leg members,means for pivotally connecting said leg members respectively at oppositesides of said extension, fiat leafsprings secured to the back of saidcore in vertical alinement with said respective leg portions, saidleg-portions having fiat seats at the rear sides of their upper endportions engageableby the free ends of said leaf-springs, saidleg-portions shoulders disposed at the lower ends of said seats adaptedto be engaged by the extremities o'fisaid leaf-springs to limit therearward swinging movement of said leg portions, said leaf springsnormally holding said leg-portions in longitudinal alinement with saidcore yet yieldable to rearward swinging movement, said leg portionsbeing movable forwardly and upwardly to positions at substantially rightangles to said core, and the upper extremities of said legportionshaving flat end surfaces engageable by said leaf-springs to stabilizesaid leg-portions in such raised positions.

6. In a toy of'the kind described, a body portion, leg-portionspivotally connected with said body portion, flat-leaf springs attachedto said body portion, the free ends of said leaf-springs respectivelyengaging the rear sides of said respective leg portions to holdthelatter in normal longitudinal alinement with said body portion yetyieldable to rearward swinging movement, said leg portions being movableforwardly and upwardly to positions at substantially right angles tosaid body portion, and the upper extremities of said leg-portions havingflat end surfaces engageable by said leaf springs to stabilize said legportions in such raised positions.v

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereuntoset my hand this 9th day of December, 1920.

DAVID ZAIDEN.

